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Topic: iJust Finished Watching (Read 359465 times)

Turkey Shoot's new, and free, riff The Innocent Party. Great riff! Turkey Shoot always does an excellent job, and this is no exception. The short on the otherhand...why did I watch this one right before I went to sleep? It's a health Safety PSA on Syphilis, and given the time perios it's actually not too much into hyperboly and misinformation. The wierdest part is how much the old doctor seems to know about the kid's sex life, and how hesitant the kid is to tell the other girl.

It's cool that it's free. Heck, I would have paid three times that for it!

I just remembered that a power outage deleted a post here that I never redid. If I actually did repost it and forgot, disregard this.

Star Trek Voyager: "Faces" — Ice on MarsThis was my favorite Voyager ep by anyone because Michael and Kaisha are just ON and have great chemistry. The episode comes after a long string of cop-outs and easy conclusions on the part of Voyager, and for a while I wished they would take something seriously.... Then they did, and it was just too late. Watching them try to pull out the stops was somehow just as insulting and ended it up being just pathetic ("Can't take us seriously, huh? What if I take this character we introduced last episode and have someone WEAR HIS FACE???"). I think that came across in the riffers' attitudes as they treated the episode like the load of inane garbage it is.

Star Trek Voyager: "Learning Curve" — Ice on MarsAnother great episode riff. This one had the funniest theme song riffing, IMO, with Michael trying to convince J Wilford he's not a tranny. This is another episode where you kind of feel the weight of Voyager sucking for fifteen episodes and it comes out in the riffing, which seems more energized. The episode has the greatest line in the series, though: "Take the cheese to sick bay," which has become a household saying. Finishing season one has made me excited for season two again (which QuipTracks will be a part of, incidentally, but on disc two).

I just finished watching Drawback Productions' riff of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Four point five out of five stars. Another fantastic riff from this couple. The only reason it isn't a perfect five is because Die Hard 2 was so superb that you guys almost set the bar too high with that one. Also the audio was a bit low and I had to pump it up to 150 % on VLC player.

Otherwise, terrific work. Great jokes, perfect timing, fantastic interplay between you two. I lost count of how many snappy lines you delivered. Also, I really enjoyed Meghan's (is that how it's spelled?) imitation of Short Round; it was hilarious.

A few of the best lines:

"Always accept beverages from people who have recently tried to kill you."

"Roy Orbison has had enough!"

"They're gonna bar hop over to the Annik-Inn."

"Now I can take up smoking!"

"We’re surrounded by bug footage."

"He can reach through sternums like they're applesauce--I think he can get around your hand."

"My sexual orientation is never going to be the same."

"Oh here's an idea. Move away from the cliff and away from the bullets."

I really hope you guys sold more than seven copies of this riff because it deserves to be better known. Also on your page you said you'll be doing Girls Just Want To Have Fun next. I'm not a fan of chick flicks, but if you guys are riffing it I'll watch it. I'd really like to see you guys take on a number of movies (Blue Velvet, The Hunger Games, Cowboys and Aliens, The Running Man, The Firm).

I watched Filmroasters' riff of Zardoz. Three point five out of five stars. This was a well done riff. But there was one big problem. Namely the lack of sync lines. There is only one "sync line," specifically the recorded speech of Arthur Frayn in the beginning and nothing else. I found the lack of sync lines to be extremely annoying because I had to watch the whole film in one go and couldn't pause it and come back later. It also made syncing the movie in the beginning very difficult. If this problem wasn't present, I'd give the riff four stars. Please, guys, next time put sync lines throughout the whole riff. Also, the riff audio was low and I had to bump it up to 150% on VLC player--but I think this might be a problem stemming from my old computer, though regular videos play fine at normal volume.

Otherwise, the riff was funny. There were a few dead spots, though. Particularly the meal where the group waves their hands and makes the one guy collapse. But then I think it's the film's fault and not the riffers. There is some really weird and boring shit in this film. On the other hand, I do admire director John Boorman's audacity for making a wild film like this, one that could never get made these days.

I liked one of the guys' impression of Sean Connery. Very accurate and hilarious. Some people might be offended by the large quantity of sex jokes in this iriff, but I thought they worked well given the context of the film.

I think it would've helped to have an introduction in the beginning to distinguish the riffers. Two of them seemed to dominate the show and I almost forgot there was a third one. Unlike the other riffs I bought, this one just started right up and that felt too jarring. I'd suggest taking a little time to introduce yourselves and set up the riff. It doesn't have to be long. Just ease the listener into it.

One last suggestion. I felt that the style of this riff was almost a bit too laid back. Not that it was bad per se, but it felt very off the cuff. I'm not sure if it was improvised. If you didn't use a script, then I think it might help to plan some of your riffs beforehand. If it was scripted, then perhaps more interplay between all three riffers might make the jokes even funnier.

Despite my criticisms, I'd recommend the riff. But if you buy it, be forewarned that you'll either have to rip the movie and combine it with the riff or be very good with pausing both the movie and the riff at the same time.

Good to get feedback from this one. It was the hardest film to riff that we've done so far, and one of the first ones that we made. A lot of our riffs get done in one take, but this movie was so surprisingly strange and slow that most of the time we didn't even know what to say. When we were done with it, we were just about ready to scrap the whole thing altogether, but going back over it again and again for a couple of months and adding in new lines where we could think of them kind of made it work. As a result, there's not a lot of "energy" in it, especially compared to our VODs like Bail Out and Laser Mission. Plus... the fucking movie... ugh. I knew I was spending too much time editing the rifftrack to the film when I began to actually understand what was going on in the film.

Our third riffer is pretty absent, despite having some of the funniest jokes (in my opinion). He tends to be the quieter out of the three of our core group, but he was also not around when I was going back and adding in new lines. I'll have to make sure he gets in on that if it happens again.

Noted about the sync lines with the audio-only riffs, and the introductions. One reason I prefer doing VODs, and why .mp3 riffs in the future from us will probably be rare. Also the audio-level. Premiere tends to be louder than everything else when running, yet renders video that is significantly quieter than would be expected, and I'm just now figuring this out. (A lot of our YouTube videos have had the same problem.)

Ghost Rider, by Quiptracks - Lots of fun, as always. Even though I helped out on this one, there were still surprises. So often the performance makes or breaks a joke, no matter how much you discuss it beforehand. Nicholas Cage is always riffable, and the pathetic baddies in this movie just make it so much easier. Highly recomended.

I just watched SAPPTrax's iriff of The Terminator. Pretty good. Four out of five stars. The riff started out a bit slow and unfunny in the future war sequence, but it really got going once they got into the present. Good, solid riffs from both guys. One problem was that their voices kept popping with the microphone and it was a bit distracting. Also the recording was soft and I had to go 150 on the VLC player.

They did tend to go a bit heavy on the movie references, I felt (though in fairness, I do the same in my riffs, since I'm a big movie fan).

From what my DVD player said, their sync line times were off, though the movie did sync. They said they used the MGM DVD, but I'm not sure if it was the 2001 version or some other one.

One other point: Unlike a number of riff and iriff trailers, I felt that their trailer really wasn't indicative of how funny their iriff is. I'm not sure if they were saving their funniest riffs for the actual track or they used the jokes that they thought were the funniest, but I felt that their trailer really underrepresented them. I almost didn't buy the iriff because I didn't think it was *that* funny. I'm glad I did, though. If they ever do another riff, I might suggest that they use the more explicit jokes in the trailer and put their best foot forward. Then again, as I've said before, humor is very subjective and they might've used what they thought was funniest.

They also beeped cursing. I wish they'd just curse, but that's a personal preference.

I also dig the cover art they made. It's very well done and really sold me on the riff.

I'd recommend this one. Hopefully they'll come out with more riffs, but I haven't seen anything.

Watched a few of the Turkey Shoot shorts. The two free ones from a little while ago. Still funny (particularly Destruction: Fun or Dumb), although the sound issues with the short being so much quieter than the riffs is a big issue.

I can't wait for his riff of Emiper Strikes Back to come out. So excited!

P.S. It sounded like you guys (and gals) liked my writeup of going through the Phantom Empire series iRiffs. I am thinking of doing the same thing with the Voyager season 1 episodes (since they are on Netflix Instant).

Starting with Caretaker. Oh boy, what a start. Given how infamously bad this series is, this almost feels like a fair warning. Or at least truth in advertising. The whole holodeck scenes with the Earth hick town is a convenient early indication of how much this series was going to suck. Seriously, doing this kind of crap in the FIRST EPISODE?! Just embarrassing. I will say I don't find Neelix as annoying as most people seem to. At least not yet. But the fact that he is clearly JUST the forced comic releif and has no other redeming values just makes him pointless. I can't beleive how flimsy the excuse is for Neelix and his girlfriend to stay on the ship. Speaking of flimsy excuses, having Paris being a convict released on the most contrived and cliche of reasons (that ultimately mean nothing once they are transported far away from the conflict he was supposed to be giving info on) for the sole reason to have force conflict between characters for later drama. Wow. Just...wow. Also, seeing Janeway in the early scenes go from stern authoritarian to caring and then back and forth was like all the jokes about MASH going from irreverant to maudlin.

This is a strong beginning in riffing, however. I expect nothing less from Ice On Mars. In fact this made it to 46c on the Top iRiffs list.Ice on Mars - Star Trek: Voyager "Pilot" - BUYI can see why. Good performances, voices, pacing. Plenty of running gags, but they don't overuse them. This episode gives them so much to work with, from Janeway's sexuality, to the old guy hologram of the alien, to of course Wang. Lots and lots of Wang.

Am I mistaken, or were there NO riffs on the fact the enemy aliens ar the Kardassians?

Voyager season1, episode 2: Parallax - So...only their second episode and they are already doing a meta reference to how this show if in an infinite loop and going nowhere? I can't beleive a major subplot in this episode is how everyone is questioning that Torres shouldn't be Head Engineer, when she hits coworkers and DOESN'T HAVE A DEGREE. And the only reason she gets so much screentime is because the other guy just decides not to pipe up. So, WHYYYYY does she get the job? Particularly since she was shown up in engineering by the captain even! Wow, Neelix really just forces his way into the plot doesn't he. Jeez. Oh, and poor Bob Picardo should have stormed out when just his second episode involves him being miproportioned via photoshop as a cheap gag!

I forgot that Ice on Mars did all three of the first episodes in a row. So this one was good, just like the last one. I like the inclusion of Frondy. Always good to have another personality to go with the syncing.

I liked the jokes about not repeating the riffs from the first episode credit sequence, but then there is nothing for a surprisingly long time.

It's easy. You just picture Catherine Hepburn and then remove her soul.

It's tough to be sexy when you are dressed like an extra from Peter Pan with hat hair.

Especially on Voyager. Everything is labelled.

Great. Another space anus. A spanus to it's friends.

EDIT: Also, I didn't realize that these were hourlong episodes, not half hour ones. So I won't be able to do all of them today. Once I get through with as wany as I can today, I'll have to wait till after my cousin leaves next week.

Voyager season 1 episode 3: Time and Again - *sigh* An entire episode that ends showing how the entire episode didn't matter. Or...something. It was odd, confusing and stupidly simple at the same time. In otherwords, classic Voyager. Third episode and they are ALREADY completely ignored the whole "in a hurry to get home" crap. Also, the main whitehaired resistance leader looks like they wanted to hire Ron Perlman but couldn't afford him. Or James Coburn.

Again, it's Ice on Mars, so it's quality riffing. I do like the inclusion of a female riffer. Gives variety.

"They come as a pair." --- That is impressive orgasmic synronicity.

"My ancestors were said to have..." --- ENORMOUS juggs.

And that totally makes sense. SHUT UP!

"If I know the Captain."--- And I mean pan-farringly. Ha ha.

They made WALL-E.

SHUT UP! It makes sense.

"Just this morning you were taking about the Prime Directive." --- Oh who cares. They're dead already. Why not mess with them a little?

Voyager season 1 episode 4: Phage - Okay, NOW Neelix is annoying. And Janeway just deliberately ignored an open FIRE in her goddamn ship! Plus, why are there visiting hours at sick bay, ON A SPACESHIP?! So, the only reason Ken isn't still a prisoner being tortured is because of Neelix, her...presumably boyfriend? saved her life. Yet she seems to immediately hit on a holographic person. The one character that isn't really there! That looks like Robert Picardo. Hey he's cool and all, but it's Robert Picardo. Just sayin'.

Cinester Theater. Oh how I miss thee. Easily one of the top three iRiff groups, they are always great, and they definitely do an excellent job here. Nothing against Ice on Mars, but this is the best riff so far in this series.

Voyager season 1 episode 5: The Cloud - REALLY?! Is this what the producers of a FUTURISTIC SPACE SCI-FI television show think their audience really want to see? Native American fantasy crap?! The very idea that this kind of thing belongs in this show is insulting to the audience at best. Neelix is particularly annoying here, yet he is still the one pointing out the stupidity of the ENTIRE EPISODE! There is a huuuge difference between no wanting to harm any living thing, and letting yourself get RE-EATEN! So 5 episodes in and they just...remembered they had a holodeck? And in an episode where the whole plot is about conserving their energy reserves?!

Soo...this isn't officially Ice on Mars? It just has one of the guys from it or something? The most hit and miss riff so far. Overall an average iRiff. Most problematic is the sound difference between the two riffers. Aaron is barely audible at times. Also, the countdown at the beginning has a really odd period of no sound between "one" and "pause", and then a long period with nothing before the first riff, that makes me question if I had done it right, or if there was something wrong with the track. There shouldn't be odd spacing, and there should definitely be an "okay, we're back" right afterwords. Especially given the time before a riff. I expected Ice on Mars to know that. All the rest of them have that. A minor note, but the acting by Aaron in the opening isn't that good. He is better in the riff, though.

"There is an ancient Chinese proverb." ---F. U. whitey.

Janeway's lost her mind. Everybody run!

SHUT UP! I'm talking about bears and stuff!

Snarf.

The catalog said this was fom a concert pianist. (I admit it took me a minute to get this one)

"Please state the nature of the medical emergency?" --- Vibrator mishap.

"May I request you favorite song?" --- So I can belch it out after downing a forty.